Neighbor of Clifton school official said a district truck plowed snow outside her Wayne home

A neighbor of a supervisor in the Clifton schools says he saw a school district truck clear ice outside her home in Wayne.

CLIFTON — A neighbor of the Clifton school district's transportation supervisor said he saw a Board of Education plow truck clearing ice and snow outside her Wayne home Wednesday morning.

The alleged sighting, which the neighbor — working at home because of the ice storm — wrote about in a Facebook post, has prompted an investigation by Clifton school officials.

Kathleen MacDonald, the district's transportation supervisor, did not return a call seeking comment on Wednesday.

With the blacktop pavement free of snow, a car was parked neatly in front of her home on Elmwood Terrace near Packanack Lake on Wednesday evening.

Clifton school officials also did not return calls, but MacDonald's neighbor, who asked not to be named, said that after he wrote about the incident on Facebook, school board President Gary Passenti told him the district would conduct an investigation.

Upon hearing a loud beeping noise outside, the neighbor said he watched a white truck rapidly plowing part of the street alongside MacDonald's home on Elmwood Terrace around 2 p.m. He became concerned when the truck looked like it might remove her snow but block neighbors' driveways.

"These guys were flying, going in reverse back and forth," the neighbor said.

Less than 10 minutes later, one of three people in the truck stepped outside and appeared to take payment from MacDonald, he said. The truck then passed by his house, and he noticed the words "Clifton Board of Education" plastered on one of the doors.

As a former Clifton resident, the man said, he was infuriated by the apparent misuse of taxpayer money.

"My parents still live in Clifton — that's why I was so glad to see their and your tax dollars hard at work in Wayne," he said in his Facebook post.

The neighbor said he called a district employee but got no response. He then called the city manager's office. City Manager Matthew Watkins said he called Superintendent Richard Tardalo and advised him of the complaint.

"They're going to handle it as a personnel issue," Watkins said. "I don't know what they'll do. It's a Board of Ed issue."

Tardalo said during a brief phone call on Wednesday that he was speaking with the director of buildings and grounds on another line, though it's unclear if it was to discuss the plowing complaint. He did not return subsequent calls.

The district recently spent $6,000 on GPS devices for its maintenance vehicles. It was not known Wednesday whether they had already been purchased and installed or if the expenditure included snowplows.

The neighbor said he did not know MacDonald's affiliation with the district when he posted the information on social media.

"I didn't even know her last name," he said. "I thought something looked fishy, posted it and that was it. I'm not interested in getting her or anyone else in trouble.

"I knew it would get around, but I didn't expect it to make the papers," he said about the post.

The neighbor said he was intrigued by the incident but would not pass judgment, trusting that the district would get to the bottom of the issue. Passenti, whom the man said he knows from their days as students at Clifton High School, sent him a private Facebook message in which he pledged action.

Passenti could not be reached for comment.

"I grew up in Clifton, went to Clifton High, lived there until seven years ago," the neighbor said. "What are these folks doing up here?"